The power of affective capital: rethinking emotions in racial domination

Sociologists widely understand that emotions are socially produced and shaped by systems of power, but the mechanisms by which emotions sustain racism are undertheorized. This article uses affective capital to analyze how emotional resources are circulated, extracted, and (re)-distributed to maintain racism. We argue that affective capital is a racialized resource that is gained through emotional validation, legitimacy and care, but also produced through the emotional burdens experienced by others. By examining affective capital in the family context and the workplace, we suggest that resources from Black emotional life are extracted, reinterpreted, and exploited in ways that reinforce a “racial economy of emotion” that privileges whiteness. We reject a zero-sum logic to explore the complex ways that affective capital is differentially experienced and to highlight its significant consequences. We conclude by outlining future directions that illustrate how affective capital contributes to understandings of the emotional mechanics of racism.